


A Sweeter Ending

by SingingInTheRaiin



Category: Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: Dorian calls dibs on being the godfather, Dragon Age: Inquisition - Trespasser DLC, F/M, Family, Gen, Mage Inquisitor (Dragon Age), Misunderstandings, Morning Sickness, Post Game, Unplanned Pregnancy, anchor pains, going on dates in the fade, people need to stop giving weapons to the baby, solas is a bit of a dick
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-04
Updated: 2019-06-06
Packaged: 2020-04-07 21:47:19
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 14,659
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19093762
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingingInTheRaiin/pseuds/SingingInTheRaiin
Summary: Riva Lavellan is determined to not let her life come to a halt when Solas leaves after the battle of Corypheus without a word. She wasn't expecting to be left with his child growing in her, though. She'll raise her son with the help of all her closest friends, and Solas has no clue about the baby until the Exalted Council.





	1. Lavellan

Riva laughed at Dorian’s dumb joke, but then paused when she felt as though there were a pair of eyes burning a hole in the back of her. She glanced over her shoulder, but nobody was there. She turned back to Dorian. “Do you feel anything weird?”

He arched one eyebrow and gave her one of his typical condescending looks- though his never felt as though they meant any offense, not in the way that Vivienne’s did. “This is the fade. I don’t think that it’s ever supposed to feel ‘normal’.” But something about the look on Riva’s face must have made it clear that she was genuinely concerned. He let out a soft sigh, and then began slowly turning in a circle to look at their surroundings. “Can you be any more specific about this weird feeling?”

Riva closed her eyes and tried to focus on the source of the feeling. After a few seconds, she let out a frustrated huff. “I don’t know. I guess it feels like something is watching me.” She rolled her eyes, and then grumbled out, “I know, I know, we’re in the fade,” before Dorian could repeat himself. “But I don’t usually feel anything when a spirit is watching me. And besides, we’re in your dreams right now, so there shouldn’t be spirits or demons or anyone else floating around anyways.”

Dorian looked thoughtful for a moment, but then just shrugged. “If it’s possible for you to come and visit me, then surely others could as well? They would certainly have plenty of reason to…” he trailed off, an unnecessary leer on his face. “Let’s be honest, who wouldn’t want to visit me in their dreams?”

Riva just ignored it as Dorian started flexing his arms in order to better show off his muscles. She was too caught up in the weirdness of everything. She’d been in the fade a million times before in her life, and ever since Solas had shown her how, she’d been able to move around more lucidly within her dreams. But she’d never gotten the strange sensation of thinking that if she were to just look quickly enough, she’d be able to see something watching her out of the corner of her eye. 

Or maybe there just really wasn’t anything there, and she was just feeling too stressed out. She doubted that anyone would be able to blame her for that, all things considered. She cleared her throat to get Dorian’s attention off of himself. “I think that I’m just going to go wake up now-”

“Don’t you dare,” Dorian warned her in a voice that bordered on unfriendly. “Everything that could possibly be accounted for has been already. And anything that can’t be will continue to be out of your control whether you are staring at it or not. Tomorrow we’re marching on Haven, and you need to be in your very best condition if you want to be able to lead everybody through it alive. You don’t have to stay here with me, but promise me that you won’t wake up until you’re fully rested?”

She gave Dorian a fond smile. “Gods, I wish it was easier to just say no to you. Fine, I promise that I’ll get some more sleep. But preferably somewhere a bit more… peaceful.”

Dorian pretended to look offended by that. “Are you saying that I can’t be peaceful?”

Riva laughed, though now that the reminder of tomorrow had been brought up, there was a bittersweet pang in her chest that accompanied the laughter. Of course nobody could know for sure what tomorrow would bring, but Riva couldn’t let herself get her hopes up too much. It was all too likely that she wouldn’t be walking away from any of it. That she’d never see all the people that made up her strange, yet cozy, family ever again. She suddenly pulled Dorian into a tight hug, and had to resist the urge to just never let go. “I’ll see you in the morning.”

“Bright and early,” he promised. “Though preferably not too early. Unlike some people, getting enough beauty sleep actually helps keep me beautiful.” His face turned serious for just a moment, like there was something else that he wanted to say, but then he just took a step back, and waited for Riva to disappear from his dream.

There was only one other person that Riva wanted to visit before tomorrow (well technically there were still many others, but no matter what other dreamers were capable of, she could only find other mages). It didn’t take too much concentration before she found herself standing in the Skyhold courtyard, though it was missing the many people and overlapping conversations that it normally contained.

Solas was slowly walking around, looking as though he was trying to memorize every single detail. She laughed as she walked over to him, and then wrapped her arms around his waist, and pressed her forehead against his back. “Fancy meeting you here.”

Solas had the decency to snort instead of pointing out how unfunny that was after the thousandth time she’d used it to greet him in the fade. Then his face fell into a more serious look, and he reached out to gently cup her cheeks. “How are you feeling, ma vhenan? Tomorrow is going to be a long day that will ask much of you.”

“No more than I am willing to give,” she assured him. “Though if you were to offer to spirit me away from here…” she trailed off when she saw that Solas didn’t seem to understand that she was joking. “I’m not actually going to leave, don’t worry. I know that my responsibility as Inquisitor comes first. But hey, maybe after all of this is over and Corypheus is dead, I can actually take a vacation for once. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would it be?”

For some reason, Solas looked surprised by the question. “Are you suggesting that I would be taking this vacation with you?”  
And suddenly Riva felt very awkward. Even though the words had never been exchanged between them, she had let herself assume that they were the truth. “Only if you want to,” she said softly. “I know that we’ve never discussed the future, but I…” she trailed off, and then took in a deep breath and scrounged up the courage to say her feelings out loud. “I love you, and I want to be with you.”

The look on Solas’ face seemed to be one of pure pain, and Riva had no idea why. But then that look melted away, replaced by one of those warm, genuine little smiles that were reserved solely for Riva. “I would go anywhere so long as you are with me.” He didn’t say that he loved her, but Riva didn’t care about the words themselves, because his actions and what he’d just said seemed to speak loudly enough to her. She’d known from the beginning that Solas had many walls and barriers between him and everyone else, and she had no desire to push him into sharing sooner than he felt comfortable.

So instead she reached up to take both of his hands. “We’ll throw a pin at a map,” she declared. “And then we’ll travel to wherever it lands, and have a lovely time without having to worry about any responsibilities.” Perhaps it should have worried her that Solas didn’t say anything in response to that, but she was too distracted by the way he was kissing her, as though there was nothing else he could possibly want to do in that moment. She broke away from the kiss so that she could breath, and then whispered out again, “I love you, Solas.” Her eyes were closed, shielding her from the sight of the torture reflected in his.

,,,

Everything happened in such a blur that Riva knew she wouldn’t be able to give any kind of official account of things. It was good that Varric had been there, because he’d be able to talk about all of it in his usual grandiose way. After making the initial report, and going around to all of the tents to do what she could for the injured soldiers, she went to find the one person who she wanted to be able to share in this victory with the most. Though it turned out to be a more difficult task than she thought.

Concern started to fill Riva as she wandered closer to the ruins of Haven. Solas hadn’t been right by her side as Corypheus went down, but he’d been fighting like everyone else. What if something had happened to him? He hadn’t been in any of the tents, but what if he was lying somewhere in Haven, hurt and waiting for help?

She ran through the ruins, searching desperately for any sign of him. She’d already exhausted herself when she’d poured every ounce of her mana into healing those that needed it, so she dug through the rubble with her hands, despair filling her the longer that she searched. Riva had no idea how long she’d been looking when she was startled by the sudden feeling of a hand on her shoulder, and she quickly jumped to her feet, ready to lash out at any remaining members of Corypheus’ forces. 

It was no enemy, though, just Cole. He had a concerned look on his face, and it seemed as though his full attention was on Riva. “She was gone between one moment and the next, and they were all frightened, some wondering if Andraste had taken her back as quickly as she’d given her.”

Riva’s shoulders slumped down, and she clasped her hands together, not even paying attention to how dirty and tired she was. “I didn’t mean to worry anyone, but I need to find Solas. Have you seen him?”

There was a pause before Cole answered, and he looked troubled. “Everything I worked for is broken and gone and I have to leave if I want any chance of getting back on track. I can not afford to be distracted by her any longer, because I know that if I stay for even one moment more, I will never want to leave again, and that cannot happen. I must fulfill my duty.” 

Riva blinked a couple of times as his words sank in, and then it suddenly felt as though she was a puppet whose strings had been cut as she sank down to her knees. “He… left? Without even saying goodbye?”

Cole knelt down in front of her, and reached out slowly, but then stopped and dropped his own arms back down to his sides. “You are hurt,” he told her anxiously.

She wrapped her arms around her middle as though trying to give herself a hug. “This isn’t something you can fix, Cole, I’m sorry.” Her own words were just a soft mumble, as her mind was busy buzzing away with the implications of everything else. After telling her that he’d go anywhere in the world with her, he’d decided to just leave? No note, no message to any of the others in the inner circle, just gone? Riva wanted to scream out loud at the unjustness of it, at the way it felt like her heart was splintering into a million pieces. 

It seemed pretty obvious now that she thought about it. She had been able to sense that Solas was hiding something from her for a while now, and he’d never told her that he loved her. And now he’d taken off without a single word. He’d probably just been waiting for the moment his duty to the Inquisition was over so that he could leave. 

If it was up to her, perhaps Riva would stay in the rubble and cry for the rest of the week, but she did still have responsibilities, and she didn’t want everyone to be worried about her. She forced herself to get back to her feet, and didn’t try to pull away with Cole reached out to hold her hand so that they could walk back to the temporary camp together. 

,,,

“Well I always knew that I had an effect on the ladies, but I never knew that it could be such an explosive one.” 

Riva sat back on her haunches, and reached up to wipe at her mouth with her sleeve. Despite his teasing words, she could see the real concern on her best friend’s face. “I’m fine,” she assured him. “I think I’ve just picked something up. I’ve felt a bit ill the past few days, but it always goes away after I’ve had a chance to eat some breakfast.”

Dorian helped her up to her feet, looking doubtful. “You are not a healer, Riva. You can’t properly diagnose yourself. I think that if you’ve been sick for a few days already, you should definitely go see a healer. Come on, let me bring you there now. I don’t trust that you’ll get there on your own.”

“But I have a meeting-” she tried to protest.

Unfortunately for her, Dorian wasn’t hearing any of it. “I’m sure that your lovely advisors will be perfectly understanding of the fact that they should not be calling for meetings so early in the morning in the first place. Hopefully this will serve as an appropriate wakeup call for them in that regard.”

Normally Riva would put up a greater resistance, but she really did feel like garbage, and if the healers could give her something to make her illness go away, then she’d be able to get back to work and be as efficient at it as ever. 

After she finished describing her symptoms to the healer, there was a long pause before the woman started to speak. “My Lady, I think that you…” then she stopped, looking unsure of herself.

“You’d better not say that she’s dying,” Dorian warned in one of his most serious voices.

Instead of intimidating the woman, it just made her giggle a little bit, and then she turned her attention back to Riva. “I believe that you are with child. As soon as one of the mages is free, I’ll have them look you over to confirm it.”

The woman walked away, and then Dorian shoved at Riva’s legs so that he could sit down next to her on the small cot, and moved her legs so that they were resting on top of his. “You know, I’m starting to feel rather left out. Last I heard, you and S- and that ass hadn’t gone far enough to get to the baby-making yet.”

Riva’s face flushed and she squeezed her eyes shut. “Well, that’s because it was a very intimate moment that I didn’t want to go around talking to people about. And Solas always valued his privacy.”

She opened her eyes again to see Dorian’s thoughtful face. “And you’re sure that it would be his? No chance of it belonging to our rugged templar man?”

Riva made a face. “No chance.”

Dorian heaved out an exaggerated sigh. “Well we know the father won’t be in the picture then. But don’t you dare for a moment think that I won’t be there to spoil the little bugger rotten every single day.”

Riva laughed. “Don’t go getting too far ahead of yourself. We don’t even know for sure yet.” But even as she said that, she just knew that it was the truth, and berated herself for not realizing it sooner. 

One of the mage healers came by after what felt like ages, and cast a few different spells before finally drawing out a few drops of Riva’s blood. “Congratulations, Inquisitor. You’re going to be a mother.”

“Mamae,” she murmured. When Dorian and the healer gave her a curious look, she shrugged. “Mamae. It’s the Dalish word for mother.”  
The healer smiled. “Well, congratulations Mamae, then. Now let’s discuss what you’ll need to do in order to keep both yourself and the baby completely healthy. I’ll write you a list of the different herbs and foods that are safe for consumption and- well, you can come back and talk about this when your ready, Inquisitor,” she suddenly said in a gentle voice before hurrying out of there.

Riva wasn’t sure why the woman had hurried off, until she felt the warm little drops landing on her collarbone, and reached up to swipe at her eyes, finding them disturbingly wet. Dorian shifted around so that he could pull Riva into a hug. “It’s going to be okay, I promise. You’re not in this alone, you got that? We’ve all got your back.” There was such love in Dorian’s voice that it was impossible not to believe him when he said that. But that didn’t stop her from crying, because Riva knew that there were so many people who didn’t have her back. Solas, obviously. Her clan, who had declared her a heretic after she’d become the Herald of Andraste. Varric, who had left just a week ago to go home to Kirkwall. Her parents, who had abandoned her as a child because of some stupid Dalish rules about limiting mages in clans. 

After thinking about all of them, she cried even harder, and Dorian let her, making comforting little noises and rubbing her back, all while assuring her that everything was going to be okay, and that she was going to be an amazing mamae. Riva could only hope that she would be able to be everything for her child that her own family had not been for her.

,,,

Cullen shifted awkwardly on his feet, and then reached up to scratch at the back of his neck. “I, uh, congratulations.”

Riva gave him a long, scrutinizing look, and then just laughed. “You already knew, didn’t you?”

His shoulders slumped down. “Yes. I think that pretty much everyone in Skyhold knows at this point. I am terribly sorry if you were trying to keep it a secret.”

Riva shrugged and shook her head. “It’s no big deal. I already accepted a long time ago that nothing about my life would ever really be private.”

That didn’t erase the slightly guilty look from Cullen’s face. “I can at least make sure that it stays within Skyhold, if you’d like?”

“I would really appreciate that, Cullen, thank you.” She paused for a moment as she tried to think about how to word her next request. “I didn’t just come up her to tell you about the baby. I also came to ask you something. Ah, Dorian has already called dibs on being declared godfather, but with how much work everyone still has, I thought that even between the two of us, it might not always be enough, and there’s also very few people who I trust as much as I trust you, so I was wondering if it would be alright to make you a godfather as well?” When a long pause followed her question, Riva shook her head. “Nevermind, I wasn’t trying to say that you have to do anything that you don’t want to-”

“I’d be honored,” Cullen blurted out. 

They both stared at each other for a long moment, and then exchanged small grins. “You say that now, but if you’d known me as a kid, I’m sure you wouldn’t be ‘honored’, so much as horrified. But I am glad all the same. Thank you, Cullen.” Then she offered him a wry smile as she sank down into the nearest chair. “So, is there anything I should know?”

,,,

As Riva took a step back from the bookshelf, she bumped right into someone who had been standing very closely behind her. She turned around in annoyance, but then the irritation faded at the sight of her best friend. “Dorian, I thought that you wouldn’t be back for at least another couple of days.”

“Things wrapped up early,” he answered distractedly. His eyes seemed fixated on Riva’s stomach, which was now visibly large enough to make it obvious that she was growing a child. “Should you really be doing that in your condition?”

Riva arched one eyebrow. “Reading?”

Dorian rolled his eyes. “No, climbing the bookshelves. There’s no other way you could have gotten that particular book. I hid it on the top shelf specifically to keep your grubby hands off of it.”

The only appropriate response to that was to laugh right in Dorian’s face. “I have magic, remember? And even if I didn’t, I doubt that a little bit of climbing about would really be all that detrimental.” When Dorian just continued to look unsure, Riva laughed. “Who has more experience with babies between the two of us, Dorian? I came from a small clan, and even though I’m no healer, I was First there, which means that I was present to use my magic to help the Keeper deliver a great number of babies. I’m not foolish enough to do anything that would put them in harm’s way, I promise.”

Dorian still looked doubtful, but Riva didn’t mind. She knew that he was just worried about her and her child and didn’t want to see either of them get hurt. “Well… regardless of all of that, I want to assure you that I have not spent my time idly. I found a wonderful little bookshop back home that happened to have in stock a book about pregnancies.”

“I really don’t think that that’s necessary. Besides, was it meant for elves, or for humans?”

He hesitated for a moment, and then his shoulders sank down slightly. “Is there a difference?”

Riva laughed, and then reached up to pat Dorian on the shoulder. “It’s fine. I know that you mean well. But I promise you that I know what I’m doing, at least for this part of it. It’s the part where the baby is set loose on the world and I’ve got to take care of it that I’m actually going to have to worry about. Now buy me lunch and tell me all about your trip.”

Dorian grinned, and reached out to offer Riva his elbow so that he could escort her down the stairs. “As you wish, my Lady.”

,,,

It was a good thing that Riva wasn’t the type of person to be easily startled, or else she might have accidentally smacked poor Cole as he appeared right in front of her. She looked up from the paperwork she’d been in the middle of filling out. Usually she was the one to seek out Cole when she was interested in talking to him. It rarely happened the other way around.

He held out a small glass jar, and Riva could see that it contained toasted oats mixed with honey. It was one of her few weaknesses, and also something she’d been craving for the past few hours, but had been too lazy to get up and make some. “He’s hungry,” Cole told her earnestly.

Riva accepted the jar, and gave Cole a bright smile. “You can tell the gender?”

Cole looked puzzled by the question. “No…? He’s just a boy.”

Riva refrained from laughing out loud at the adorable look of confusion on Cole’s face. “Well regardless, thank you for this. It makes me very happy to have my favorite treat right now.”

Cole nodded and looked satisfied. If he had made her happy then that was what mattered. “He loves you,” Cole told her softly before disappearing again. Riva hesitated before taking her first bit of the snack. She honestly couldn’t say for certain whether Cole had meant the baby growing inside her, or the man responsible for putting it there.

,,,

“Hey, Boss, I was just about to go looking for you. I’ve got something for you. Well, it’s for the little one, but you can hold onto it until he’s born.” Then Iron Bull dropped a small axe down onto Riva’s palm. It was good quality, and looked like an almost exact replica of Bull’s preferred weapon, though of course it was much tinier. “Never too early to start training.”

Riva raised one eyebrow. “We’ll have to agree to disagree on that. It is a thoughtful gift, though. Maybe I’ll even let the baby play around with it after I get Dagna to dull the blade into something that couldn’t possibly cause injury.”

Iron Bull didn’t even look sheepish about the fact that it was necessary to baby-proof the gift he’d brought for the baby. “Well, it’s up to you, Boss, whether you want the baby to be tough or not. See you around,” then he turned to head back towards the tavern.

,,,

Sera’s nose was wrinkled up in disgust as she yanked her hand away from where it had been resting on the round curve of Riva’s belly. “The little bugger just kicked me!”

“They tend to do that,” Riva responded, unable to keep the amusement out of her voice.

“Babies are gross,” Sera declared after a long pause. “Noisy and messy and they don’t even know any cool tricks, yeah? Don’t even think about trying to ask me to babysit, at least not until it’s closer to being a real person.”

It seemed kinder to not point out the fact that Riva had never even considered for a moment the idea of asking Sera to babysit. “Hey, maybe he’ll surprise you. After all, he does have a pretty awesome mamae.”

“Yeah, but the babae half of him comes from a real prick, so…” she trailed off when she saw the way Riva’s whole body seemed to freeze in place. “Ah, shit. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to bring it up, I swear.”

Riva forced herself to smile. “It’s okay, Sera. It’s been over half a year, I’m over Solas already. But, uh, I just realized that I have some papers to sign, so I’ll just be on my way to go do that now. I’ll talk to you later, okay?” And then she hurried off before Sera could say anything else. She really didn’t need to hear about how having her heart broken meant that she was a ‘real’ person, or anything like that.

,,,

The healer looked around the room, irritation clear on her face. “I don’t know what kind of back end town the lot of you are from, but I need you to clear the room so that the poor girl can actually breath!”

Everyone grumbled under their breath, but they did slink away- though Riva had good enough hearing that she could tell they were just standing around on the stairs that led to her quarters. Dorian stayed behind, though, after promising the healer that he wouldn’t get in the way, and that he could use his magic to help if needed. 

At first, Riva thought that it was just an excuse to stay in the room with her, and she really didn’t mind because it was nice to have a friend with her. But as the pain grew worse, she realized that the anchor was starting to spark out of control, and she gave Dorian a pleading look. “Can you do something about this?” Solas had always been able to calm the anchor down when it got too out of control, but Riva had never bothered to ask him what spell he used, because she had foolishly assumed that he would be sticking with her forever. 

Obviously he hadn’t confided in Dorian about whatever spell he used, but Dorian was a clever man, and after thinking about it for a moment, he reached out and held his hand just a hair away from Riva’s, gently putting a very thin layer of frost down to soothe the pain from the anchor. When her hand was numb enough that she could barely feel it, the anchor seemed to calm down, and Riva was only left with the pain of the birth itself.

But all of that was worth it when she found herself cradling the brand new baby boy to her chest, rocking him gently back and forth. Dorian leaned over to get a better look at the baby, and looked quite concerned. “He’s so… tiny. Is that healthy?”

The healer snorted. “The boy’s an elf. He is quite average for a newborn.” Then she held her hands out to gently take the baby from Riva’s arms. “Just need to give him a quick bath, and then he’ll be right back in your arms, I promise.”

She was only gone for a few minutes before returning, and Riva was eager to take her son back. “What are you going to name him?” Dorian asked quietly. “Don’t get me wrong, naming him after me would be quite flattering, but might also get too confusing once he’s old enough to be running around the place and causing mischief.”

Riva laughed, though she made sure to keep the noise soft so that it wouldn’t disturb the sleeping infant. “What a shame. I thought that ‘narcissist’ would be a lovely name for the boy. But no, I was thinking of Elris.”

Dorian pressed his lips together into a flat line for a moment before gathering the courage to speak. “Are you sure that you want to give him a Dalish name?”

“I’m Dalish,” she reminded him. “I’m never going to be able to live with my clan again, and even with Briala’s support I’m not very well liked by a lot of elves because they think I’m a traitor for being the herald of the Andrastians, but even so, I grew up a Dalish, and it’s my son’s culture and heritage as much as it is mine. Even if he has a very different upbringing, I still want him to have at least a little piece of home.”

Dorian held his hands up. “I wasn’t trying to offend you,” he assured her. “I was talking more about what’s best for you. Is giving him an elven name going to be too big of a reminder for you?”

Perhaps it was telling that Riva didn’t even need a few seconds to figure out what he was talking about. “No. Solas never considered himself to be on the same level as any elves, city or Dalish, so I don’t think that that will be a problem. Any other objections before I give my son a permanent name?”

“No, no, of course not.” Dorian looked at the sleeping baby with a fond little smile. “Welcome to the world, Elris. I’ve already called dibs on being your godfather, and if there’s ever anything you want that your mamae won’t give you, then you know who to come to.”

Riva shifted Elris into one arm so that she could use the other to lightly punch Dorian into the shoulder. “Don’t tell him that,” she scolded, though the effect was somewhat ruined by the amusement glittering in her eyes. “Don’t forget that Cullen is his godfather too, so if you get on my bad side, you’re out.”

Dorian reached up to press one hand against his heart. “How cruel, my Lady. And here I thought that no one would ever be able to come in between our friendship.” There was a brief moment of silence, and then both of them started cracking up, despite the fact that it hadn’t even been that funny. 

And they both definitely found it a lot less funny when Elris was startled awake by the noise, and simply refused to go back to sleep- though Dorian did comment on how unnatural it was that the baby did not cry or whine at all. 

,,,

Sera peered into the bassinet, and then looked back up at Riva. “You’re sure that that’s a baby in there? Maybe you just got lucky, because he doesn’t look nearly as revolting as I expected. Well, I still hate the little grub, but if you really need someone to babysit, then I’ll do it.”

Riva arched one eyebrow. “You know you don’t have to. Cullen and Blackwall have both already offered to-”

Sera held her hands up. “You’ve broken me down, Inquisitor! I am prepared to help you in this hour of great need since there is no one else able to do so.”

They both stared at each other for a moment, and then Riva shrugged. If Sera actually wanted to spend time with Elris (even though she was adamantly denying it, and had called Elrish ‘too elfy’ on multiple occasions) then Riva wasn’t going to interfere. Though she would definitely ask Cullen to keep an eye on them while she was gone. 

This wasn’t the wasn’t the first time she’d had to head out on some Inquisition business or another since Elris had been born, but it never seemed to get any easier. Sometimes on her worst days it made her wonder what must have been wrong with her that her own parents had been able to abandon her so easily. But whenever she started to feel truly miserable, all she needed to do was look at Elris, and one of his adorable little smiles, and it would feel like all was right with the world again. 

,,,

Varric was shaking his head up at Josephine, and Riva slowly inched closer to them, not quite sure if she wanted to know what they were talking about. She hadn’t even known Varric had been planning on making a visit to Skyhold, but he looked rather annoyed at the moment. “-can’t do that, he’s barely even half a year old. I can assure you that the Inquisitor will not appreciate you trying to marry her son off already.”

Riva’s eyes widened and she quickly approached the pair. “What was that?”

Josephine turned to look at her, holding her wooden board and many sheets of paper. “I was just telling Varric that now would be the perfect time to have an announcement party for Elris. We could invite all of the nobles who are our allies, and they could bring their children as well, and it might serve as a way of garnering deeper connections.”

Riva immediately shook her head. “I appreciate the offer, Josie, but I don’t think so. If Elris did ever decide he wants to get married, which wouldn’t be for many, many years anyways, then he would be the one to choose his bride or groom.”

For a moment it looked like Josephine would try to argue, but instead she just dipped her head down briefly, and then nodded. “Of course. But if you do ever change your mind about that, then you know where to find me.” 

Once she was out of sight, Riva focused her attention on the dwarf in front of her. “It’s so good to see you, Varric. It’s been far too long.”

Varric crossed his arms over his chest and gave Riva an unimpressed look. “Yes, it has been. Long enough that no one thought to mention to me that you were going to be having a baby? I had to hear about it from Aveline, of all people, who heard it from a couple of former Inquisition soldiers who decided to go to Kirkwall to join the city guard. I was going to bring you a present, but I’ve changed my mind because of this secrecy. It’s for the little tyke instead. Where is he?” He looked around, as though expecting to spot a baby just sitting around in the courtyard.

“I was just about to go and pick him up, actually. You can come with me.” 

They headed towards the stables, where Blackwall was carefully rocking Elris back and forth on the rocking griffin that he’d made. “Mamae!” 

Riva dropped to her knees as she pulled the boy into a hug, and then gently picked him up off of the toy, balancing him easily on her hip. “How has your day been, da’len?”

“Mamae,” he repeated. 

Varric barked out a laugh. “For a moment there, I thought you were about to get into a full fledged conversation with the kid. I wouldn’t even be surprised, honestly. It would be one of the least crazy things to happen in your life.”

Elris looked over at Varric curiously, and then up at his mother’s face. “Mamae?”

“That’s Varric. He’s a friend.”

Varric scoffed. “A friend who didn’t even know you were expecting. But anyways, here, this is for you, kid.” He pulled a large key out of his pocket and held it up to Elris. After a moment of hesitation, the baby accepted it and immediately stuck it in his mouth to begin gnawing on it. “That right there is an official key to the city of Kirkwall, kid. Now that I’m viscount, I can do whatever I want.”

Riva rolled her eyes as she started walking back towards the throne room, and Varric followed her there. “I’m pretty sure that that’s not how it works. And anyways, how can you be upset at me for not mentioning that I was pregnant when you neglected to mention that you were made viscount?”

There was a pause, and then Varric nodded once. “Fair point. Alright, we’ll call it even just this once.” As they entered the throne room, a red haired man was waiting for them just within the entrance. 

The man’s eyes widened in alarm as he looked at the key that was still partially in Elris’ mouth. “Sir, you can’t just give away a key to the city without the approval of the council and an official ceremony, and certainly not to an infant!”

Varric waved the man’s concern aside. “Ah, it’s all just symbolic anyways.”

“That key controls the nets in the harbor!”

Riva couldn’t help laughing as she tugged the key free, and then held the spitty thing out towards the man. “I wouldn’t want Varric to get in any trouble over this.”

Varric shook his head. “You should keep it. I mean, the kid should keep it. Maybe having control of the harbor will be good for him. A fun toy to show off to his friends. Now come on, I have so much to tell you…”

,,,

The look of surprise on Cullen’s face was not subtle at all as Riva tossed a bag with some of Elris’ things in with the rest of the inner circle’s belongings. “You’re bringing Elris with us?”

Riva shrugged. “Leliana practically begged me to. Said that she regrets not having a chance to slip away sooner to meet him.” She knew that part of it was also because Leliana knew that Riva wouldn’t want to be apart from her child for the many months it would take to travel all the way to Orlais, actually sit through the entire damned Exalted Council, and then travel all the way back. “Hang on, I’ve just got to grab one more thing from my room.”

As she hurried through the throne room to the get to the stairs that led to her quarters, Riva couldn’t help noticing just how empty the place felt. And if things went as she suspected they would during the Council, this place would soon be even emptier. She knew that Skyhold had become her home, and she would stay there, and she knew that at least Cullen and Dorian and Sera would stay there with her. But all the many other inhabitants of the fortress had no reason to stick around if the Inquisition was disbanded, and Riva wasn’t sure how to feel about that.

It didn’t take long to grab the last bag of Elris’ stuff- he was only a year and half old, and couldn’t be expected to travel as lightly as everyone else- and then she was heading for the front doors again. Riva paused on her way there, though, and looked into the rotunda without even meaning to. That’s when her anchor started flaring up, and she dropped her bag out of surprise. There was no way she could head outside like this, in pain and out of control. She was the Inquisitor, for whatever that was worth at this point, and she needed to stay strong. 

There were still a few others who weren’t entirely ready to go right that second, so it didn’t seem like a minute or two of delay from her would set back the entire expedition. So she stepped inside the round room, and slowly turned in a circle, letting her eyes sweep over the beautiful mural that Solas had slowly painted across the walls during his time in Skyhold. Looking at the artwork helped to distract her from the way that her hand felt as though it had been dipped into hot oil. 

Of course it was impossible for Riva to have avoided this room entirely in the past two years, but she had always rushed through it, not taking any time to look around. When she saw the two figures with the space between them, she wondered if they were meant to be her and Solas. She smiled sadly as her eyes landed on the final piece of the mural, just above the doorway. It had never been fully painted, which made it look somewhat dull compared to the rest of the room. It was a simple wolf, though Riva wondered if Solas had intended to put in more details there or not.

It was funny to think of an elf painting wolves at all, because usually wolves were seen as a sign of bad luck due to their connection to Fen’Harel. But then again, Solas had mentioned on multiple occasions that he did not believe the gods to have been gods, so he probably didn’t fear the great Dread Wolf the way that other elves did. 

After a while, someone peered in to see Riva standing in the center of the room. “Oh, there you are, Inquisitor. Cullen was concerned when you had not returned in almost an hour. Everyone else is ready to go.” Cassandra took a small step into the room, and glanced at the section of wall that Riva was looking at before turning to face Riva fully. “Are you… alright?” 

The Seeker sounded as awkward as ever when it came to the idea of talking about feelings. And even if she wasn’t so awkward about it, Riva didn’t really want to talk to anyone. It had been two years already. She had no excuse for acting so melancholy about this. “When we are done in Halamshiral, remind me to get some white paint on the way back,”

Cassandra tilted her head to the side. “Why?”

It seemed like a pretty obvious answer, but Riva responded to the question anyways. “I think it’s time to cover up all of this.”

She didn’t expect Cassandra to look so pensive when she finally looked over at the older woman. “Are you sure?”

Riva thought about it for a moment. She was pretty sure that she was doomed to always love Solas, regardless of the fact that he’d left her. But letting herself stay so caught up in the past wasn’t good for her, and it wasn’t good for Elris. She needed to move on with her life, to move on from Solas. So she nodded once, and then walked past Cassandra, heading outside towards the front gates of Skyhold. It was time for her to move forward.


	2. Solas

Solas knew that this was a terrible idea, and that it probably wasn’t going to end well for him. It had been two years already since he had last seen Riva or any of the others he had grown to call ‘friends’ throughout his time with the Inquisition. And it would probably be in everyone’s best interest if he continued to stay away from them. But staying silent when he knew of the Qunari threat in the ranks seemed particularly cruel. He knew that Riva would give him no thanks for this service, but he still felt that he needed to at least try.

It didn’t take very much effort for Solas to disguise himself and blend in with the rest of the crowd spread throughout the Winter Palace, all preparing for the arrival of the Inquisition. They were supposed to have arrived two days ago, but word had been sent ahead by Solas’ agents to say that they had been caught up by a non-threatening delay, with no further details included.

But now the Inquisition was here, riding through the gates with all of their typical fanfare. Cullen, Josephine, and Riva were leading the rest of the small group, followed by a couple of wagons. He was standing too far away to make out any of their faces too clearly, but he found himself watching greedily anyways. The occasional reports from his agents over the past two years was nothing compared to actually being able to lay his eyes on Riva again.

He was pleased to see that she looked good, healthy. Not that he’d ever been arrogant enough to believe that him leaving would destroy her, but he had been worried, regardless of the news that he received from his agents. Riva had never been the best actress, which meant that if she was truly miserable, she’d never be able to pull off such a happy look, even for the sake of all the people gathered here to try and tear her down.

The Inquisition was the last party that needed to arrive for the talks to begin, but they would be given at least the rest of today to settle in and get themselves prepared for everything that was coming up. Now, before the Council could even begin, would be Solas’ best chance at talking to Riva, and warning her about was going on right beneath her own nose. If Solas was smart, he would send one of his agents to talk to her. But somehow, when it came to Riva, it always seemed so impossible for Solas to do the smart thing.

,,,

He had to remain in disguise as he approached Riva, of course. The Inquisition didn’t know about him being Fen’Harel, or what his plans had been with the orb, but they saw him as a traitor, and he had no wish to stir up any trouble with them. He just wanted to make sure that they knew about the immediate threat so that they could deal with it. Something of a last kindness for them so that their remaining years could be lived out comfortably.

What Solas was no expecting was to see almost everyone from the inner circle gathered around Riva, cooing at the young elf boy who was sitting on her lap. Had they been delayed because they had stopped to rescue the child? It certainly would be within Riva’s character to do so. But surely at least some of them had more important things they were supposed to be doing? Oddly enough, Sera was there, and Solas would have never believed Sera would enjoy being around children (despite the fact that she was basically a child herself). Even the newly dubbed Divine Victoria was with the group, and appeared to be in the middle of slipping the boy a foldable knife. 

He silently moved closer to the group, not wanting to alert any of them to his presence. The boy had no vallaslin, though he was far too young for such a thing anyways, so it was impossible to tell whether he was a Dalish or a city elf. But then he turned and peered in Solas’ direction, and their eyes met. And Solas’ breath was stolen away as he saw immediately that the boy had Riva’s eyes.

And then a moment later the woman stood up, carefully scooping the boy up with her. “Come on, darling, you’ve had a long day and you really do need a nap.”

Varric snickered at the displeased look on the boy’s face. “I’ve heard that you had to delay the whole Inquisition because the kid refused to continue on.”

The look on Cullen and Josephine’s faces made it quite clear that they found the situation nowhere near as funny as the dwarf did. And Solas had to agree with them for once, though for entirely different reasons. He followed as Riva separated from the group and headed towards the quarters she’d been assigned. He watched wordlessly as she tucked the boy into her own bed, and then rummaged through her bags to pull out a stuffed nug that the boy immediately snatched out of her hands, and she began humming some lullaby or another. 

It seemed so impossible, and yet, Solas couldn’t deny what was right in front of his eyes. Riva had a child. Being as old as he was, and knowing that modern elves lived such short lifespans, Solas couldn’t accurately guess the boy’s age beyond the fact that he was still very young, but even so… Had Riva jumped into bed with some other man the moment Solas had been out of the picture? He wanted her to move on and be happy, but he hadn’t expected her to do it so quickly. That’s what he got for getting so caught up in the life of a quickling.

And to add insult to injury, the boy was clearly an elf, which meant that the father had to be an elf as well. Suddenly feeling enraged, Solas stormed away from the palace and back to the place where many of his agents were currently gathered, waiting to report in. All of the most intelligent and strongest elves in the Inquisition were Solas’, which meant that one of them was the most likely culprit. He found himself feeling especially unforgiving towards whoever it was. 

His agents looked at him expectantly, but backed off slightly as they took in the ire on his face. “Why has no one thought to mention to me that the Inquisitor has a child?” He kept his voice calm and steady, but a few of the elves still flinched back from him.

It took a moment before one bravely cleared his throat. “The Inquisitor made it clear that she didn’t want rumors spreading out of Skyhold while she was still pregnant.”

“And after that?”

A few of the agents exchanged looks with each other before turning back to Solas and shrugging. “We work for you, and we know that you are the one who is working towards the goals we all wish to achieve. But in the meanwhile, we do like the Inquisitor. And her kid. So keeping it quiet didn’t seem like all that big of a deal.”

Solas had to fight himself not to just start shouting at all of them. While he was trying to remain calm, another of the elves spoke up. “Just wondering, but why does it matter so much to you, anyways?”

Half of the agents in front of him looked equally curious, while the other half looked at the asker in shock. Clearly only some of them had been competent enough to know about his relationship with Riva. Though to be fair, he had been the one who insisted to her that it be kept private. Not many outside of Riva’s inner circle was aware that they had ever been together.

But even though he knew that logically, the question still felt like someone stabbing him right in the chest. Instead of answering it, he moved on to the next most important part of all of this. “Which one of you is the father?” Now he was just being met with blank stares, and he started to growl a bit without meaning to. “The boy is clearly an elf, and majority of elves in Skyhold are my agents, so which of you miserable lot are responsible for this?” Nobody stepped forward, but nobody looked particularly guilty, either. They glanced around at each other, as though silently questioning themselves on who it could be, and Solas just let out a tired sigh. “All of you are dismissed.”

Most of the elves started to disperse, but one of them remained standing in her spot. “Sir? Did you warn the Inquisitor about the Qunari?”

Solas slowly shook his head. “No. Approaching her now would only cause a panic.” And the thought of making her come to him seemed so much more appealing, and would give him a bit of time to process the betrayal that he was feeling, even though he knew that he had no right to feel it. 

Once the last of the elves had wandered away, Solas closed his eyes and reached up to rub his forehead. He wanted to blame Riva for all of his problems. Her existence had made his life so much more complicated. And in the past two years, not a day had gone by that he didn’t think about her when he closed his eyes, though he’d kept enough restraint to not seek her out in the fade. He always knew that if he did, and she asked him to stay, he might find himself too weak to continue doing what he needed to. 

He slowly turned around, ready to head back to the Winter Palace in disguise so that he could watch the proceedings, but his eyes widened slightly in surprise when he saw that Cole had been standing right behind him. He hadn’t expected Cole to find him here, not after all of Varric and Riva’s efforts to make him more human. He wondered how long the rogue had been standing there, and how much he had heard. “Stay away!” Cole snarled at him. “You made her hurt, so now you need to stay away!” 

Solas closed his eyes for a moment, and felt pained in his heart at Cole’s words. “Cole, I-”

“You can’t make her hurt again,” Cole insisted in the fiercest voice Solas had ever heard from him. “You make yourself hurt when you stay away, but you were hurt when you got near. I cannot fix your hurt, but I can hers. I can fix it if you stay away.”

Solas gulped. “Surely you’re not implying that she’s still hurt that I left?” As much as he loved Riva, she was only mortal. They had such short lives that they could not afford to stay miserable for long. 

Cole just glared at him. “Stay away,” he repeated firmly. And then he was gone. 

,,,

Solas let out a tired sigh as the Viddasala approached him. “Leave now in peace.” He knew that it was unlikely she would do so, but he just felt so tired of all of the deaths on his hands, and all of the blame that had been placed on him over too many years to even count anymore. 

The Qunari drew her blade, and Solas only had to summon up a tiny bit of power to freeze her to stone like all of the other Qunari around them. Over the past two years, he had been growing stronger and stronger, and it helped a great deal that he had gotten Mythal’s power, as well as that of whichever one had been in Morrigan’s son. Though he was trying to use those powers sparingly, as he knew that he would need them for the big finale. 

He turned to leave, feeling done with the entire day, but then heard his name choked out with a strangled sounding voice. He whirled around in time to see Riva dropping to her knees, clutching her hand to her chest, eyes squeezed shut and lips pressed into a flat line as she tried to contain any pained noises.

Solas could feel panic filling him. He hadn’t thought that the anchor would suddenly get so unstable, and become such a danger to her. He rushed forward and dropped to his knees in front of her. He concentrated on stabilizing the anchor, though he knew that it would only be a temporary effect. “How long has this been going on?”

Riva slowly opened her eyes, and Solas felt blown away by the sight of them again. He’d missed her so much in the time that they’d been apart, and he had nobody to blame for that but himself. “It’s been slowly getting worse and worse since Elris was born, but the pain was always manageable until all of this Eluvian hopping.”

“Elris- that’s your son?” She nodded once, and Solas realized that she was staring at him just as intently as he was looking at her. 

He was about to ask who the lucky man was who had gotten to keep her and give her a child, but then Riva’s eyes widened, and she leaned away from him. “I’ve just realized what that means. If you’re truly Fen’Harel, which I suspect that you are, then that means that Elris is part ancient god.”

Solas froze. All of the words she’d used made sense separately, of course, but put together like that, his mind was having trouble trying to comprehend what she was implying. “Are you… are you saying that he’s mine?”

Riva furrowed her eyebrows. “Of course. Who else did you think would be his father? He’s only a year and a half old, Solas. Do you really think so lowly of me that you think I would have laid with another man while I was still with you?” Truthfully, Solas hadn’t thought to ask his agents how old the boy was. It hadn’t seemed entirely important at the time. He hadn’t even considered for a moment the possibility that he could be the father. He stared at Riva in wonderment. She just shook her head. “Those potions never have a one hundred percent chance of being effective. I never meant to keep him from you, Solas. But you are the one who left. I couldn’t even find you in the fade to tell you the news. You made it pretty clear that you had no interest in being with me anymore-”

“That isn’t true,” Solas had to interrupt. “If it was as simple as just doing what I wanted to do then I never would have left your side.”

Riva gave him an exasperated look. “Whatever else is going on, you could have just come to me. You didn’t need to choose it over me, but you did. You gave the Inquisition what it needed to figure out everything with the Qunari, which means that you still care, but you just disappeared, Solas. You weren’t there when I needed you.”

“I’m so sorry for that,” he told her, hoping that his voice conveyed all of his regret. Then, after a moment of hesitation, he pulled Riva into a hug, and she melted into it after just a second of resistance. “You gave me a family, but I was too foolish to see it.” Tearing down the veil would restore to him some of what had been lost, but the losses he faced if he moved ahead with his plans seemed even greater. “I can’t believe I have a son. I never thought… well. But I have a son!”

Riva gave him a fond smile. “You’re still an ass, Solas, and you’re not forgiven just yet. But I do want you to be a part of Elris’ life. But only if you stop all of the craziness. I can’t let you be around him if you’re going to be so…” she trailed off, and then let out a yelp of pain as the anchor flared out. “I love Elris so much, and so do many of our friends, but if you swear to me that you will change, then I want you to be the one to take him, at least some of the time. I doubt that our friends would let you have him full time.”

Solas shook his head. “You can’t say that,” he told her. “I can’t lose you now. Not after I just found out that I have a family.”

“You were always a bit slow on the uptake,” she told him with a small laugh. “If you’re really Fen’Harel, then the orb was yours, which means that the anchor is too, right? You were always able to control it best when it got out of control. Is there anything you can do now?”

It seemed unbearable to listen to the hope in her voice, knowing that he had no solutions to her pain. “I’m so sorry, Riva,” he said as gently as he could. “The magic of the anchor is too deeply entangled inside of you, and it’s only spreading. The only thing I can think of is to remove your arm.” 

Riva slumped forward. “Well, it’s not perfect, but I’d much rather return to Elrish with one hand than not at all.”

At the mention of her- their!- son, Solas’ eyes widened. “Actually, there might be another solution. The problem is that a bit of my magic is mixed in far too much with yours, but it isn’t the only case of that. Our son would be a mix of the both of us as well. Where is he?”

“He’s still at the Winter Palace, but Solas, you can’t go there. The others might not know who you are, but they all believe you to be a villain, and at the very least, Varric, Cassandra, and Dorian all heard as the Viddasala called you an agent of Fen’Harel. They won’t trust you, and they definitely won’t hand Elris over to you.”

“Who said anything about me going there alone?” He very carefully scooped Riva up, not wanting to jostle her around too much. Her face was far too pale, and she had her teeth clenched together. “Come on, I need you to stay awake long enough to tell the others that I mean them no harm. We need to do this as quickly as possible.”

Riva took in a deep breath and then slowly let it out before curling up closer to Solas’ chest. “I trust you,” she said quietly. “Mythal’s tits, I know that I probably shouldn’t, not after everything, but I do.”

Solas wasn’t even sure how to describe the feeling that filled his belly at that declaration. He could see that Riva was struggling to keep her eyes open, and knew that he needed to hurry. He went through the Eluvian, and quickly found his way back to the Winter Palace. There were a couple of guards standing near the Eluvian, but Solas rushed past them, knowing that there was no time for any fighting if he wanted to save Riva and keep her in one piece.

He was irritated, but not surprised, when he heard a familiar voice. “Whoa there, Chuckles, no need for anything crazy to happen. Just put the Inquisitor down, and then we can all talk.”

Solas thought that Riva had already gone unconscious, so he wasn’t expecting her to respond to Varric, weak as her voice sounded. “It’s okay, he’s trying to help. Where’s Elris?”

Varric looked unsure of what he should do, but then he sighed, and his shoulders slumped down as if he had the weight of the world on his shoulders. As if he could ever possibly understand what that would feel like. “Curly and Tiny are watching him. Why-?”

“Long story. Could you please take us to him?” Riva practically wheezed out, before clutching her hand tightly to her chest and letting out a grunt of pain. 

For a moment, Solas was afraid that the stupid dwarf was just going to let Riva die, but then he started hurrying towards the actual entrance to the palace, and Solas easily kept pace. They turned and went down a small corridor and into one of the two doors that were there. Cullen was pacing by the window, tightly gripping the handle of his sheathed sword, while the Iron Bull was sitting on the floor, the baby clinging to his horns. 

As soon as they entered the room, Cullen drew his sword, and the Iron Bull tugged the baby down into one arm while grabbing his axe with the other. But Elris’ determination to break free was apparently stronger than the Bull’s grip, because he managed to squirm his way to the floor. “Mamae!” He started to awkwardly toddle over to them, and Solas sank down to his knees, while still holding onto Riva. Elris paused and fell down onto his butt, all while looking at Riva with concern. “Mamae? Sleepy?”

Solas looked at the child, and desperately hoped that he was right. “Elris, your mamae is very sick right now, but I think that you can help her.” The two warriors in the room were still holding their weapons towards him, but Varric had motioned for them to wait before attacking. Solas gulped. “Elris, you are a very special child, and I know you must be capable of great things. Will you help me with this?”

“Help Mamae?” Solas nodded once, and then Elris nodded. “I’m Mamae’s hero,” he said proudly. 

One corner of Solas’ mouth quirked up into a smile. “I can believe that. Elris, can I see your hand?” The boy gave him a strange look before reaching out, and letting Solas hold his tiny little hand. “I want you to focus on how much you love your mamae, and how much you want her to feel better, okay? Can you do that for me?” Despite the urgency of the situation, he made sure to keep his voice calm and friendly, not wanting to scare the boy- to scare his son. 

Elris nodded, a solemn look on his face. It seemed somewhat out of place on a child of his age. “I make Mamae wake up.”

Solas closed his eyes, and focused on the power coming from Elris. There was a lot of it, but the boy had no idea how to direct it, and that’s what Solas did. He gently fed the power into Riva’s body, a little bit at a time so that it would not overwhelm her, and found where the anchor was ready to expand, and possibly even explode. The way that Solas and Riva’s magic mixed together there was what made it unstable, as the two powers were like water and oil. When the anchor had first been put on Riva’s hand, the substances had been mixed together well enough, but over time they had begun to separate, which left them battling within Riva. 

Elris’ power was different. While it was an echo of both Solas and Riva, it was also an entire entity of its own. It served as an emulsifier to combine the warring powers more thoroughly, stabilizing the anchor as well as Riva’s own magic. It felt like it took hours to finish, though in reality the entire process took no more than a minute, and then Riva was opening her eyes again, looking as strong as ever.

She immediately pulled Elris into a tight hug and began peppering his face and the top of his head with kisses. “Oh, I love you so much, my sweet, brave, wonderful little boy.”

Cullen cleared his throat, looking as awkward as ever. “Inquisitor…” but he clearly didn’t know what he actually wanted to say in this situation.

Riva seemed to somehow understand him anyways, though, because she let out a soft sigh, and then turned to look at Solas, while still holding Elris in her arms. “I think that I was pretty clear before,” she told him gently. “I can’t let you be in Elris’ life if you’re going to be the kind of person who would destroy the world.”

Of course, Solas was more than powerful enough to kill everyone in the room and take the baby if that’s what he wanted to do. But the thought of killing Riva made him feel sick to his stomach. He wanted her too. He’d never stopped wanting her. He bowed his head forward, and forced himself to speak despite the pride that he had always been burdened with. “If you and Elris will have me, then we will be a family. I will not need my other plans any longer.”

Riva gave him a long, inspecting look, and Solas knew that she was searching for the truth, needing to see for herself that Solas was willing to change for the sake of being part of their family. After what felt like an eternity, she finally nodded once, and then loosened her grasp on Elris. “Elris, this is your babae. Can you say hi to him?”

Elris stared at Solas with open curiosity. “Babae?” Solas nodded once, though he felt as though he couldn’t speak past the sudden lump in his throat. Elris pushed Riva’s hands aside, and then scooted closer to Solas. He reached up and poked Solas right in the cheek, and then grinned and clapped his hands together. “Hi!” 

Solas started to reach out, but then paused, and looked up at Riva. “May I?”

She nodded. “He’s your son.” He picked Elris up, and then slowly stood, reaching down to help Riva stand as well. “Like I said before, I can’t just go and forgive you immediately for everything. But you can earn that forgiveness, if it’s what you really want.”

Solas nodded eagerly. “Anything you say.”

“Boss, you sure about this?” 

Solas wanted to give the Iron Bull a nasty look for trying to put doubt in Riva’s mind, but she just laughed, and shrugged. “Not really. But I don’t see how it can be any other way. You can put away your weapon, Commander. Solas is no longer a threat.” She looked back at Solas, and he could see the hurt in her eyes from what he’d put her through, but he thought his heart would fly right up his throat and leave him when he realized that he could still see the love there too. It wasn’t too late for him. He still had a chance to get what he wanted.

,,,

Solas slowly walked over to where Riva was perched on the balcony railing, unsure of whether or not she would appreciate the company. “Are you alright?”

She peered over her shoulder, and then smiled when she saw that it was Solas. Then she turned back to the view. “I’ll be alright. I think I’ve known for a while now that the Inquisition was never going to be a permanent thing. There will always be threats in Thedas, but we took care of the one that we set out to. Disbanding was the right thing to do.” Solas walked so that he was standing next to her, and found that he could not take his eyes off of her. He felt like a man who’d been stranded in Western Orlais, and had just found a large river. “Solas? Have you really changed your mind?”

He nodded once, even though he knew that Riva wasn’t looking at him to see the gesture. “Yes. I want to be with you, and with Elris. I want to do everything in my power to earn your forgiveness. I want to do everything in my power to make you happy.”

“Come back to Skyhold with us?”

“Of course, ma vhenan.” 

Riva smiled, and moved one of her hands so that it was resting flat against the railing, and Solas placed his hand on top. “It’ll be nice to have you around again. Maybe you can convince Cullen that it’s futile to try and babyproof the entire fortress.”

Solas laughed. “Or maybe I’ll just try to help him with that project.” Then he gently squeezed her hand, and felt happier than he had in a very long time.

,,,

Solas found Riva in the tavern. Elris was sitting on the table, while the others were all gathered around playing cards. Even the baby had a hand laid out in front of him, though all of his cards were face up so that everybody could see them, and he didn’t seem to understand the rules of the game very well. 

He didn’t really want to join in the game, but Elris spotted him. “Babae! Come play!” and how could he refuse such an innocent request from his son? It still sent shivers down his spine to think of Elris as his son, but he was slowly beginning to get used to it. 

Solas sat on the end of one of the benches, pressed thigh to thigh against Riva, who gave him a mischievous little grin. “You’re so going down.” 

“Tough words coming from you, Boss. Who was it who loses whenever Cullen’s not around to be the loser?”

Riva turned to stick her tongue out at the Iron Bull. “Well luckily for me, Cullen is here right now.”

Cullen’s face was bright red. “Perhaps not for much longer, if I keep going at this rate. I don’t want to end up like I did at that first game of Wicked Grace.” 

Sera snorted. “Don’t worry, nobody had a problem with running around with your bits out, yeah?” That just made Cullen’s face even redder, and he seemed to sink down into his seat. 

Riva turned her head to the side and whispered into Solas’ ear quietly eonugh that the others wouldn’t be able to hear her. “I’m warning you now, Josephine can get very intense, so never try to bet against her if you can help it.”

Solas arched one eyebrow. “And if I can bet against her and win?” 

“I would be very impressed,” Riva said with a light laugh. Then she reached out to pat Elris on the knee. “Any interesting cards?”

Elris picked up one of the cards and stared at it intently for a moment, and then stuck the corner in his mouth to start chewing on it. “Ah yes, I can really see the resemblance now, Mr. High-and-Elfy.” Then Sera slammed a few cards down on the table. “Now let’s do this!”

,,,

By the time the game was over, everyone but Josephine and the Iron Bull were quite a few coins shorter than when they started, and Cullen had reluctantly handed his coat over to Leliana, who Solas couldn’t even recall joining the game. He helped clean up the table, and then picked up Elris to balance in one arm, while offering his other to Riva. She only hesitated for a moment before linking their elbows together, and slowly strolling back towards the castle with her.

It was a peaceful evening, but Solas didn’t mind it when Riva broke the silence, because he loved the sound of her voice. “We both know how much you hate card games, so I’m assuming that you had different motivations for going to the tavern?”

“I was looking for you,” he admitted easily. “I was thinking of starting a new mural in my rotunda. The story that’s in there now is not the story that I want to be told hundreds of years from now. Do you know where the best place would be to obtain large quantities of white paint?”

Riva tilted her head to the side for a moment to think, and then nodded. “Yup! Come on, this way!” She led Solas into the lowest level of the castle, and to a storage room. It was filled with buckets of white paint, and he turned to look at Riva with one eyebrow raised. Her face went a light pink. “I might have mentioned before leaving for the Exalted Council that I wanted to cover all of your paintings, and someone overheard and thought they’d get a headstart on my request for all the paint. Sorry, it just seemed… at the time…”

“It’s alright,” Solas assured her. “I don’t blame you for wanting to cover it up after everything.”

Riva looked relieved that Solas wasn’t bothered, and then she reached out to take Elris. “I’m going to go put him to bed. I’ll come back and help you carry paint later.” She left, but she did return, just like she’d said that she would, and helped carry a few buckets of paint up to the rotunda. They set out clothes around the edges of the room, and then both started working. It wasn’t long before Solas felt something wet on his back, and turned to see that Riva had just flicked some paint off of the end of her brush as him. “My bad?”

Solas narrowed his eyes. “Don’t think that you’re going to get away with that so easily,” he growled out before dipping his own brush back into the nearest bucket. Riva let out a loud squeak of laughter as paint landed on her, and gave him an intense look to let him know that it was on.

And even though it was not a very productive evening, and both of them ended up covered in about as much paint as the walls did, Solas would not trade it for the world.

,,,

Solas realized that Riva had been preparing for the party for quite a while now, and was starting to get worried. He peered into her dressing room, and saw that she was fully dressed, but that she was prodding at her face, making the pale green light of the anchor reflect through her hair. “Is everything okay?”

She sighed and turned to face him. “I think I found a gray hair. Now I’m looking at the ridiculous amount of wrinkles on my face. Guess I’m getting old,” she joked. 

But Solas did not feel like that was a joke at all. He’d been so caught up in being happy to be back and to have Riva and Elris that he hadn’t even thought about the long term. He, and most likely Elris as well, would outlive Riva by a very long time, and he couldn’t bear the thought of the that. He resolved to begin working towards a solution for this problem the moment that the party was over.

He didn’t realize how caught up he had gotten in his research until Riva had resolved to find him in the fade while they were both sleeping. “Have I done something wrong? I feel like you’ve been avoiding me lately.”

Solas quickly shook his head, and pulled Riva into a tight hug. “No, you’ve done nothing wrong. I just…” He took a deep breath in, and then slowly let it out, even though he was well aware of the fact that there was no need to breath in the fade. “I am worried about you getting older. I am trying to find a way to make you immortal as well.”

It was hard to tell for sure what Riva was looking, but finally she just shrugged. “As long as it doesn’t involve anyone getting hurt, look into it as much as you’d like. No guarantees that I’d go through with it even if you did find a way, though. Out-living so many of the people that I love seems so…” Solas nodded, since that was exactly why he needed to find a way. Riva seemed to read that from his face, and she just smiled and kissed the corner of his mouth. “Do your research, then we’ll see.”

He wasn’t expecting Sera of all people to approach him a few days later, poking at his chest and getting way too in his face. “What is wrong with you, you prick?”

Solas raised one eyebrow. “Have I done something to offend you?”

“You called her royal ladybits old? She’s not even thirty yet!”

Solas felt his heart sink. He hadn’t really considered how Riva might feel about his research in that regard. “She told you that?”

Sera snorted. “As if. She wrote to Lady McFancyPants to ask for advice on makeup, or whatever.”

Solas was pretty sure that that meant Vivienne. Considering how much he knew Riva disliked Vivienne, it had to be a pretty big deal to ask for her help. But even more importantly- “You read her mail?”

Sera shrugged. “With no war going on, it can get pretty boring around here.” Then she jabbed at Solas’ chest once more for good measure. “Stop calling your lady old. Or you just might wake up one day and find all of your pants filled with horse shite, and you’ll have no idea how it got there.”

Solas was pretty sure that he would know, but thought it wisest not to point that out. Sera nodded in satisfaction at Solas’ silence, and then stomped away as quickly as she had shown up. He would continue his research on finding a way to make Riva immortal, but perhaps it could wait for a few more years. 

,,,

“What am I thinking? What am I thinking?” Elris asked as he skipped in circles around Cole, looking excited.

Cole closed his eyes for a moment before responding. “Happy, loved, just want her to be happy, sometimes when she thinks no one is looking she gets a lonely look on her face but she deserves better, a hero to her, want-”

Solas slipped away before he could hear the rest of Cole’s words, and went to find Riva. He knew that she had been really looking forward to this day off, but he just wanted to check on her, and he knew that Cole wouldn’t let anything happen to Elris. 

He started to head towards their quarters, but then closed his eyes for a moment to think. Because the anchor had come from him and his power, if he focused hard enough, he could track it. Solas rarely did that because he thought that it was a breach of Riva’s privacy, but she had given him permission to do so if he was ever worried about her.

Solas ended up going down towards the prison and then walking past it, to where there was no wall, just an opening to the large waterfall and cliff. It was a beautiful view, but chilly, and dangerous if one were to step too close to the edge. “Vhenan?”

Riva was sitting on the ground, a small blanket spread out beneath her, and a few plates of food resting on the floor. He sat down next to her, reaching out to pull her closer to him so that she could warm up a little bit. She had to be freezing from sitting down here for who knows how long. “Solas? What are you doing here?”

“I could ask you the same thing. What’s going on?”

She had a stubborn look on her face, but then she just sighed and shrugged. “I just thought that I’d enjoy a nice meal in peace. Care to join me?”

“Of course.” Solas settled back against the damp stone wall behind them, and sat there and chatted as they ate together. As much as he loved Elris, he did enjoy spending time together when it was just the two of them. He did notice that she kept glancing out into the open sky, but he wasn’t sure why.

Just as it was starting to get dark out, Riva hopped to her feet, brushing off whatever dirt had gotten on her pants. “Come on!” She grabbed Solas by the hand and dragged him back through the prison, and then to the throne room. When they got there, he could see that it was packed full of people, with nice decorations all around, and everyone shouted ‘happy birthday’ at him at the same time. 

Solas turned to look at Riva, and saw the big grin on her face. “How did you know?”

She shrugged. “I can’t tell you. I do need to have some secrets to myself. Now come on, enjoy the party!” Solas wondered if one of the voices of the well had told her, but then decided that it didn’t really matter either way. 

Dorian carried Elris to the crowd, until they were close enough that Elris launched himself out of Dorian’s arms and into Solas’. “Babae! We fool you?”

That’s when Solas noticed Cole standing nearby, a satisfied look on his face. He looked back at Elris proudly. “You did. I had no idea what you little imps were up to.”

Elris clapped happily, and then looked over at Riva. “Mamae! We fooled him!”

“You sure did! Guess that means that your babae is a bit of a fool now, doesn’t it?”

Solas rolled his eyes, but found himself genuinely enjoying the party. He couldn’t even remember the last time that he had celebrated his birthday, and found that it was quite enjoyable, at least when it had the right guests. 

,,,

“-and then you just focus really hard on where you want to go.”

The four year old Elris nodded. “I get it. Thanks Babae!”

Solas smiled as he reached out to ruffle the boy’s hair. “Of course. Whenever you have questions, you can come to me.”

A moment later, the door to the quarters slammed open, and Riva stormed into their bedroom, hands on her hips. “This is all your fault, Solas!” His eyes widened, and he quickly tried to wrack his brain to think of what he could have done to upset her so much. “I thought that Lel- Divine Victoria- was going to murder me when I threw up on her shoes, and it’s all your fault!”

Solas furrowed his eyebrows. “I fail to see how-”

“I’m pregnant, you jerk!”

Even though Riva sounded annoyed, Solas couldn’t keep the delight off of his face. Even having one child was far beyond anything he ever could have imagined for himself. Even after getting back into Riva’s good graces and being part of Elris’ life, it would have never occurred to him to try pushing his luck by daring to hope for another child. 

He walked over to Riva and pulled her into a sweeping hug before giving her a long kiss. “Ar lath ma, ma vhenan,” he whispered.

Riva rolled her eyes. “I love you too, even if you are an ass for doing this to me.”

“I promise to protect you from Leliana’s wrath,” he told her, though he couldn’t get his voice to sound appropriately solemn. 

Riva sighed. “Oh, alright. And you’re the one who has to pay for her new shoes. Now I am going to go take a bath.” She gave him another quick kiss before heading towards the bathroom. 

Once she was gone, Solas sank down onto the edge of the bed, and couldn’t keep the big grin off of his face. He’d thought that his family was perfect before, but now it was going to grow even larger, and even more perfect. 

Elris hopped over to him, and then dropped down onto Solas’ lap. “Babae? How did you get Mamae pregnant?”

He could hear Riva’s laughter ring out from the bathroom. “You did promise to answer all of his questions!”

Solas sighed, but put his arm around Elris to keep the boy secure while he tried to think of the best way to word this explanation. Then he smirked as the perfect idea struck him. “Why don’t you ask your aunt Leliana before she leaves? She loves answering questions.”

Elris thought about it for a moment, and then shrugged. “Okay.” He hurried off to find Leliana, and even though Solas got the feeling that he was going to regret that later, for the moment he felt quite proud of himself. He poked his head into the bathroom, and stood still to enjoy the sight of Riva looking so peaceful as she rested in the warm water. 

After everything he’d done in his life, he never would have thought that he deserved to find such happiness. But he was endlessly grateful that he had found it, and that he hadn’t been foolish enough to give it up for a second time.


End file.
